This blog is about what I eat, what I cook and my recipe memory.
It may seem odd in a world where online sites carry thousands of recipes but I have the simplest of reasons.
I live in a remote part of Scotland, ten miles from the nearest shop, or if you like 40 minutes round trip and 4.5kg of CO2. I grow quite a bit of veg and fruit, using a traditional vegetable plot and some covered growing spaces. I supplement this with our hedges and from our flowerbeds.
Sounds idyllic? Well sort-of. We grow a lot of what we eat, but we live in Scotland – not Kent, so the range and timings are unique to here and every year is different. There is a lot of farm land and game all around us so if you’re not squeamish about food prep and you’re happy about the rearing practices then it’s plentiful, local, and cheap. But there aren’t that many recipes for partridge in Chinese cooking on the web – So there are pros and cons.
And then I add the final complication – Me! I love food. I was lucky enough to travel a lot, and to experience a huge range of foods and sample so many ingredients. On holiday I used to challenge myself to try one new food or drink every day – and I did this for years and years. So what I want is to take the very best of all of those foods and cook them in my kitchen with what’s at hand.
The reality is that I look for substitutes and work-arounds. I make all my own bread rather than increase the frequency of travel out to the shops. I look to grow things to make the sauces and pastes and flavours and textures I can’t easily buy. And I do it because I love it.
Nothing in this blog is ‘authentic’ it’s what I cook because it’s what I like to do with what I’ve got.
The portions are hearty, I live a reasonably active life. There’s not much sweet because I don’t have a sweet tooth and I don’t snack much either. There’s also quite a few meals that use just one or two pots – because I don’t like washing up. And I tend to use ingredients that are around in my garden and cupboard at the same time.
I use quite a bit of spice, but I hate having lots of open jars, so I tend to stick to the same dozen or so spices so I refresh them reasonably often.
I’ve tried to list variations and substitutions to help me when my cupboard’s a bit bare and to help the unlucky reader without a kitchen garden or a glut of chillies from last summer.
I make no apologies for the tastes, spice mixes or lack of finesse in presentation. It’s food I cook and eat. Just that and no more.